Gwyneth sent me

a year or so ago, I signed up for Gwyneth Paltro’s blog/newsletter Goop.com. I didn’t know what it was, but she created a little buzz and I was curious. I don’t read them all when they come as I have  hard enough time catching up with my New Yorker subscription (now read on my iPad2). But the last one caught my fancy as it was all about cheese and cheese shops.

So arriving to London today, I went to one of the ones that GP told her readers was the best in England. I’d have to agree with her. La Fromagerie is just off of Marylebone High Street, an area that is trying really, really hard to be a culinary destination. Maybe too hard.

It was a treat not only to be there and visually feast on the colors, hues, tones of the place, but also to be with cheese in such a lovely and intimate way, unobscured by counters and cheesemongers who’d rather not be talking to a lowly cheese novice.

I sat at a long communal table and ordered two cheese tasting plates. I wanted to spread out, although there are smaller, private tables too.

My favourite was a french goat from Savoie and a delightful bloomy rind cheese called Wigmore, an English artisan cheese made from ewe’s milk. It’s from the Berkshires and was a velvet delight.